The Quick Case for More Nonpartisan Federal Oversight

Today, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Republicans are illegally rushing a confirmation vote of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Despite refusing to confirm any federal judges because it was an election year in 2016, McConnell, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and their Republican colleagues have been candid about their partisan incentives and disregard for the precedents they set four years ago.

The Barrett confirmation is only the latest of power grabs by a party whose agenda represents a minority of Americans’ interests. Small government, tax breaks for the wealthy, and social conservatism simply aren’t popular anymore, and Republicans know it. According to recent polls, issues like gun control, reproductive rights, racial justice, and the environment are much more important to Americans than estate taxes or corporate deregulation. However, instead of changing their platform to better match these interests, the GOP has spent the last two decades utilizing partisan gerrymandering, filibusters, voter suppression, and even disinformation campaigns to stay in power. When smaller countries are faced with corruption at this level, international authorities like The World Bank or the UN often intervene, but what happens when a country with the largest military in the world is wrought with corruption and facing a democratic crisis?

So, with the blatant corruption we’ve seen in the past six years, why hasn’t there been more discussion about creating stronger nonpartisan authorities on government oversight? Imagine if Democrats could spend their time drafting progressive legislation instead of constantly having to pursue corruption charges against their political opponents. As long as a Democratic Senator has to hold their Republican colleagues accountable, they’re legislating with one hand tied behind their back. Going forward, there needs to be more emphasis on strengthening independent councils in charge of federal government oversight. I realize that no human can truly be nonpartisan, especially today, but to give up and surrender to this endless escalation of super-partisanship could have disastrous consequences for our democracy.

Many have said that to mitigate the power imbalance created by the GOP, Democrats need to consider expanding the Supreme Court and ending the filibuster. Both of these are legal and prudently necessary. There are also arguments for Democrats using similar, less juridical measures as their conservative counterparts. But, if Democrats are going to use extra-judicial and extra-constitutional means to undo the damage done to our democracy by Trump and McConnell, one can only imagine how the GOP will retaliate in the future. Without politically independent solutions, we’ll be stuck in an endless cycle of increasingly anti-democratic power grabs wherein half the instigators are white supremacists, climate change deniers, Evangelical nationalists, conspiracy peddlers, or all of the above.